I Am Your Nightmare
by 4fireking
Summary: After Edward and Al's bodies were restored, they lived long and happy lives. Safe in one of the eight safest places in the world, a war making the world a dystopia. After three years a seemingly callous and somnolent boy will hunt alchemists.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemists. I owned the Fullmetal Alchemists stories I wrote before this one but this isn't a redo chapter.

**_Chapter 1: Dystopian Alchemist_**

He looked up at the sky and scowled. Stupid birds, he thought. He tried to save their lives and they repay him flying off with a cheese string. The seagull will choke on the cheese string and die. Did he mention the cheese string wasn't his? He walked out of the mall and saw seagulls fighting over the cheese string in the parking lot. They were just stupid birds.

He had a slender body. His bones were showing when someone removed his shirt, shoulder length white striped brown hair, intelligent blue eyes, and pronounced nose. He came here when all hell broke loose and creatures started attacking the world.

He sighed. He needed some good advice on how he could recover from a_ sleep _hangover. He stayed up in the most expensive suite he could find, played video games to the point his fingers were hurting, and he bought more video games. The video games emphasize why he was so tired.

Not having a car or a driver's permit when you are fourteen years old and live alone is a good thing. No one gets mad at you for your smoking habits, inappropriate words, or knowing how to drive a car already. It would be the perfect life except sometimes it got really dark and he was very afraid.

The world wasn't remotely occupied by normal people. Ever since the _war _people have been staying in refugee camps, and the policy was for them to give them all their money. Everyone looks alike, but their soot-filled faces and the tipsy bystanders were what embraced him every day. He gets to stay in his suite; everything smells like copper, and no truancy. The only problem was the food. With the radiation in the ground and immense casualties on animals, food was hard to obtain. Every restaurant was rundown, the corn stands were gone, and everyone in posters looked like a total bitch.

Believe what heckled him the most. There was no longer ice cream in this dystopia town. No late night movies, no going out after dark, you weren't allowed to leave your house unless four or more people are with you and one of you is carrying a gun with you. Thank God I don't live here, he thought.

Not the entire world was devastated by storm, flood, and war. Twenty-seven percent of the world was rescued by brilliant protégés with great gifts. There was an alchemist who lost his arm and his leg and made metal replacements for himself. He wasn't looking for an alchemist. He needed a god to save him, but the best thing the world had was military. He showboat those military bastards, showing them he didn't need their help.

Remember the suite he lived in? The one where he was safe after the catastrophic events took place? He didn't really live in a hotel. His home was deeper down and mucky. Every day he waked in silence knowing the only threats were urchins and rats. With his brain he made a TV work with his favorite gaming device: Playstation 6.

Being in here reminded him of when he was nine. His parents were always working and the only babysitter he had was a mute fortyish immigrant from a third world country. Basically he was living as a shut-in, barely leaving the house but still getting high marks on his tests. Now school had changed and he didn't have to go there. Everything was perfect.

Then he showed up. Under the headlights he saw a man approach his home. Scary he was wearing black in a sewer. He carried a small casket behind his back. His face covered by a black veil with metal claws over his right hand. He was the man who delivered missions to him, saving innocent people, and taking down big threats.

" So this is where Alex Hawke spends his time." The man pulled out a sewer rat hidden in his black cloths. Alex didn't know what he was going to do with the little rat. Was he going to eat it; gross. But the man threw the rat back in the sewer. " Don't get up in the middle of the night sleep walking. You might trip in this sewer."

" Hello, ugly," Alex said with a tiny smirk. " You must feel right at home. The whole world has gone to shit and you are in the sewers. I bet a lot of half-eaten bodies must show up."

" On the surface I found charred remains and people murdered in cold blood. I'll leave those bodies for rat food. You are the one stupid enough to live in a place where you can die at any moment." The black veil man took out a folder. The serial number was labeled 555-675-1010. " The rendezvous point in this mission is Titan Blackland. More details will be given when you arrive."

" According to this you want me to find a alchemist? What alchemy does he use?"

" We don't know what alchemy he's studied. All we know is it's an element alchemy. He's incapacitated one of our most precious soldiers and is still on the run. There's no way our scouts can catch him. But I'll tell you where he's not…safe."

" And you need my help finding this threat. When I was twelve years old I thought joining this organization was just a giant joke. But you really need my expertise, and that's just sad. What one hundred people can't do you need one fourteen year old. I guess that means I'm rising up in your ranks."

" Don't get cocky, Alex. We brought you here because your powers made our organization easier, not better. We give you food, water, and safety from threats; that's more than I ever got as a child. Now a plane will be waiting for you and I will take you there, special."


	2. Chapter 2

**Credit for this chapter goes to ShadowPillow who helped write the entire chapter. Now that he has helped me in this story I am confident I can write the next chapter by tomorrow. The fourth chapter might be a little difficult for me because I like to surprise myself with my writing. **

Alex found the plane that would take him to Titan Blackland. It wasn't a jet like what important people used for flying; rather, it was a bombed aircraft. Ever since the world had become this stinking hellhole, flying had become a rare commodity. The lucky ones who found a plane at all just had to deal with what they got, and in this case, they had gotten a bombed airplane.

Alex entered the plane, finding a seat between an Arabian man in a turban holding an animal's leash, and a Chinese-American wearing the blue suit. He examined the animal for a moment - a goat, dogs too had become rare in this apocalyptic world - before turning to the Chinese man.

"Do you speak English?" Alex asked, trying to pitch his voice so he didn't sound rude. But it couldn't be helped; he didn't know any other language, and he was bored.

"I was born in the United States," the man said bluntly, and Alex pasted on a cheery smile.

"Oh, good. Do you have a watch?" He eyed Alex warily.

"Don't you have your own watch?"

"I tried having a watch," Alex said cheerily, "But they always get stinky and I'd have to throw them away." A thoughtful frown as he added, "Sometimes they get destroyed."

The Chinese man was now clearly unsettled, but he pulled up his sleeve and checked the time.

"it's 12:45 in the afternoon."

"Oh, good. We should land in time for me to have lunch feast." The man hesitated, trying to come up with an appropriate response.

"Uh, what's a lunch feast?"

"It's a made up time I made because brunch just sounds silly. It's where I eat two lunches. First I eat lunch from one store and then I eat lunch from another store. It's the perfect way to get fed." He looked extremely uncomfortable, and after a moment's pause simply turned away.

Alex sighed and turned to the Arabian man hopefully, but only the goat bothered to even acknowledge him, bleating at him with large, creepy eyes. Now Alex was the one to turn away and he immediately lost his cheery exterior.

This was going to be a long hour.

(-Hawke-)

After experiencing severe case of boredom for far too long, Alex set food in Titan Blackland.

It was one of the few places in the world (other than the 27%, of course) that wasn't too shabby. The town had been built off of a well-known gun shop and soon became a relatively prosperous town, seeing that guns were valuable during these dangerous times. However, that meant that whoever controlled the gun production had absolute power, and even though the streets looked clean, that was only because they had bothered to hide the body.

However, Alex was reasonably sure that would not be the case for him. After all, he was here on a job. But he was surprised to find his employer coming from behind him, from the airplane, rather than waiting at the rendezvous itself.

"Alex Hawke." It was the Arabian man, his goat mysteriously missing now. "Follow me." His face was impassive, and Alex only grew more and more nervous as he was led to even darker and more twisted alleyways than he had ever seen back at home.

"Where are we going?" No reply. "Hey, I have a right to know. I'm pretty valuable to the organization, you know." The man finally stopped, but Alex felt the flickers of fear strengthening, becoming burning hot embers. He hadn't brought him all this way to kill him, had he?

But the man simply took off his turban and pulled a file out of it.

"I trust you have read the file previously given to you?" Alex nodded. "We have new information on the alchemist in this folder." He turned again, now pulling a level cleverly hidden on the wall of a building. There was a click, and a tunnel opened on nearby wall.

"Come," he said, and Alex followed him down the dark tunnel.

Oh, this was going to be good.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: The Big And Good Side of Alex Armstrong **_

Alex didn't like surprises; as a kid he liked to know what his presents were for his birthday and what he would get for Christmas. Alex remembered a time when he was at the video game store writing a list of everything he wanted and ask his parents to buy them for him. Time at the video game store was a privilege for Alex. In the morning he'd attend all his classes, laughing hysterically at his teachers funny lectures, taken to his private tutor for two hours after school, and spending the rest of his time studying; when he studied he was like a mole sticking his nose in the book. Alex had good grades because he understood everything. So Monday's to Friday's he couldn't do as he pleased, Saturday and Sunday's he got to play any video game he wanted.

There was a time Alex wanted to quit going to school. Why did Alex want to quit school? He was just having a complication with his family. His parents were fighting a lot ever since he was three years old. By the time he turned seven his parents considered a divorce form the major debt his father was in. That was only a partial reason why he wanted to quit school. Alex was just very sad when his dog Todd had to be put down. They said they were taking him to the vet to make him better...the next day they told him after taking him away from his tutoring. Alex had him since he was four; Todd was only six years old when he was in so much pain. Alex realized he was being selfish. The dog was in lots of pain, but all he could think about was keeping him forever. Dogs normally act that way when they turn fifteen, so Todd acting this way at age six was strange.

Alex was walking while thinking about his family and dog all dead now. Alex looked like a klutz when he fell in an indent in the ground. The Arabian guy stopped, spun around and sweat dropped at how much of a klutz Alex was.

" Can you keep up? " The man asked Alex. Alex got up and followed the man through a big doorway with the door ripped off the hinges.

" Is Rocky in already? " Alex smirked knowing the only member strong enough to rip off a door was Alex Louis Armstrong

Alex Armstrong wasn't like Alex. He was big and strong but with the nasty habit of taking off his clothes and showing everyone how big his muscles were. Alex met Armstrong twice. He was so busy with another line of work, this one was just a way to find out information about criminals and put them behind bars.

Alex was approached by the biggest, strongest man heès ever met. He looked even stronger than the last time Alex met him. He only had one little curl of blond hair and a big blond mustache. He wore the traditional blue military uniform. His eyes were brilliant blue and staring down at Alex and the Arabian man. The man stood up and saluted Major Armstrong.

" I brought Alex Hawke here just like you requested, Armstrong. " The Arabian man took off his clothes. Underneath those clothes he was wearing a blue uniform with a golden medal strapped to the right side of his clothes.

" You're not really Arabian at all, are you? " Alex inquired.

" No. My name is Chanto. I am an undercover agent for the military. Everything I do is faked. I fake my voice, pretend to be Arabian because my skin almost matches theirs, and I gather Intel by standing next to them. I cannot believe you told that man all your embarrassing secrets. "

"Was there any part of that's real?" Alex asked just out of pure curiosity.

" The goat I flew in with is real. I snatched him because goats and Arabian men go well together." Chanto rubbed his neck sheepishly thinking about that door little goat.

" That's quite enough, Chanto," Armstrong spoke. His voice was always so loud and scary. The only thing scarier than his strength was his alchemy. But Armstrong made everything scary, even something as small as taking off his shirt.

" It's good to see you again," Armstrong continued. "Have you been drinking milk? You have gotten stronger. If you want to get stronger…I can tell you my workout on the offside you let me coach you."

" No thank you," Alex sweated nervously when he thought about him and Armstrong in a gym. He returned to his usual composure. " I was told there's an alchemist I have to find. Somebody by the name of…Dax?"

" Yes, Dax. That boy is causing nothing but trouble with his alchemy. He runs so fast none of us can catch him and he hardly ever sleeps."

" And why do you want me to catch him?" Alex asked.

"A boy who runs fast and hardly ever sleeps fits your profile. I am sure once you want him you can capture him."

"Major, what makes you think this little boy can capture an alchemist that never stops moving?" Chanto heard laughing coming Alexès mouth. The fourteen year old boy was up to some kind of mischief.

"Because I already captured you."

A net opened out of the ground under Chanto's feet. Alex set this trap up in seconds. It was more than just a simple net. Chanto's arms and legs were trapped by long black rope and collars pulling on his limbs, and the net was made with spikes so Chanto couldn't move his head.

Alex laughed off his mischief out skipping away from Armstrong and Chanto. Alex Armstrong felt sorry for the alchemist Alex was going to meet. Alex Hawke could use a net that way faster than Edward could use alchemy.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4: Enter the Air Alchemist _**

The mechanism behind the traps had always seemed so simple for Alex. Others were always astonished at how easy it seemed for him, but really, once you figure out the trick, it is that easy.

The main thing was pre-emptive action. The first thing he had done when he entered the room - he could never be too careful after all - was set up the trap with one of the alchemical gadgets a friend had once made for him. Armstrong too, had a net set up under him, but he'd never have to know that.

And it had been worth it to see Chanto's face as he swung, trapped in the net. Alex snickered again as he bounded through the hall before finally turning serious.  
How was he going to catch this alchemist? Where was he most likely to be? The file had said Dax preferred to stick around the darker alleyways, where no one would be...  
Alex smirked. It was time to set up another trap.  
_

He was sitting by Vlackord St., a predator patiently waiting for his prey. Any time now, Dax would come around the corner and fall into his trap.

This time, it was simpler. Simpler meant less likely to have any faults. To impress someone, the floor-trap did the trick, but for practical action, the simple net trap was best.  
And just as expected, Dax stumbled right into the trap unsuspectingly. His foot caught on the rope, and his whole body was jerked up, now in a tangle of limbs and rope.

"What the -"

Alex smiled and came out of the shadows.  
"Hello, Dax." It was ominous. Exactly the kind of effect Alex always aimed for, to make himself seem mysterious and cool. "You have been -"

"Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?" the trapped boy demanded, and Alex sighed. So much for ominous. And now, Dax was tugging on the ropes, inspecting them for any weak spots. It irritated Alex that the other boy might have thought his trap had any flaws.

"The net's perfectly constructed," he snapped. "You can't escape." Dax glared at him, and he felt the smug superiority returning. Soon, he would get back and this job would be over -

"Why should I listen to you?" Alex sighed again. This wasn't going to be as easy as he thought.

"Dax, let me explain how this works. I captured you, and you have to come with me."

"Or what?" he challenged. Now Alex sent him his own angry glare.

"You really don't have a choice, you know."

"Then why are you talking?" Alex opened his mouth to make an angry retort, then closed it. The kid had a point, after all.

As he approached, the alchemist's tugs got more frantic.

"Get away from me!" he screamed when he got close. Alex winced and got out a can from his pocket.

Sleeping gas. One of the best things humans had ever invented. It worked nearly every time too. This was no exception.

Alex deposited the boy into his sack, specially meant for holding elemental alchemists. Now all what was left was bringing him back to the headquarters of the organization.

Unfortunately, even the best plans can have a flaw. This one had been an oversight, one small slip-up that cost Alex the whole thing: Dax knew basic alchemy too.

The file had been incomplete. He wasn't just an elemental alchemist, Dax was fully competent in all fields, despite his preference for the unknown type of elemental. The sack _he_ had put Dax in was barely any competition for a competent alchemist. All he had needed to do was escape was deconstruct part of the bag, and woops, he's gone.

Alex cursed vehemently. He had messed up. It was such a stupid mistake, and worse was, it was all his fault. If he had checked over all of the possibilities, this wouldn't have happened. Dax wouldn't have escaped.

" _He won't get far_," Alex thought making his move to find Dax.

Alex didn't have heightened hearing or heightened smell, but he had a special kind of eyesight. He could see things for miles away. All he had to do was take his index finger and rub it three times against the side of his eye. There was reasons why he was rubbing his eye, and it wasn't something as simple as trying to get an eye infection. His field of vision expanded, his eyes x-rayed buildings and people, and he saw Dax on the run.

Alex had the right gadget to keep up with him. It only took him some tools and materials to make this gadget.. It was a good thing he was in the market.

Dax was an alchemist. He escaped using regular alchemy to loosen the fibers of the bag even though he was an elemental alchemist. Alchemy was great at helping him get out of traps and tough situations. The only problem with his alchemy was it didn't make him any faster.

" _Why do they always come after me_?" Dax thought feeling angry about running. " _Why can they not just leave me alone_?"

" Special delivery!" Dax was whacked in the face by something he couldn't see. He could only see light and dark, thinking he was blind, but when he rubbed his head his eyesight returned, everything was still shaky. He saw Alex with his feet into a motorized unicycle. " Let's play ball!" he shouted.

Alex unicycle fired a small metal ball at Dax repeatedly. The first time Dax created a tiny gust of wind that repelled the balls. After dozens of them attacked at the same time he jumped out of the way. Dax got up and put his hands together making quick hand signals until a tornado ripped out and blew towards Alex. Alex exit his device, jumping off as Dax's alchemy pushed it into the wall.

" Why can't you just leave me alone?" Dax yelled, Alex stood back up. " I'm just trying to survive in this world. I have every right to be alive as you."

" No..." Alex picked out his swish army knife. Alex wish army knife was different than a normal swish army knife, he took out something that looked like a cross-brow. He put a metal stick in the cross-bow and pulled on the string, giving his prey a sedative. " You don't."

Alex fired the sedated arrow at Dax. It went straight for his jugular. His body would pass out immediately and he can carry him to Armstrong. However, someone got in his business and shot the arrow. Dax was safe for now, but Alex wasn't. He could smell Chimera's. They were surrounding him. He had nowhere to run. A man he despised showed up.

" That alchemist belongs to us. Leave now or die."


End file.
